Cat Toys
by MidnightPantherRose
Summary: She never really thought about Near at all. That is untill her mischevious friend, Kirimi, decides to do something about it. She realizes she does have feelings for Near, but will she voice them or continue to avoid him? Neko Near one-shot. NearxOC.


**A/N: Okay so this like one of the first real things that I actually completed since I'm such a procrastanator. For a while I didn't even know if I would finish this since the begining, which I had on paper, got lost but then I randomly found it in my sister's junk and was all like "Hey it's this! I should probably finish it..." and so I did! Oh and heads up they're all Nekos in this story because I thought the idea of Near with cat ears and a tail was adorable I just had to do it. Rated T to be for minor swering. Anyway enough of my babble on with the story! R&R please! Enjoy!=)**

**Disclaimer: I unfortunatly DO NOT own Death Note or Near *sobs***

I looked back to see the orphanage get smaller as we walked further away. My best friend, Kirimi, had dragged me along with her to find a present for her brother. She also somehow convienced Near to tag along.

The dark-eyed albino showed no interest in going at all though. I found myself stealing glances of him twirling strands of his snow-white hair around his finger. After some time of walking we reached our destination: a store filled with random trinkets. Kirimi's brother is rather odd so she figured this would be a good place to shop. Once we entered Kirimi ran off to the back of the store, leaving me and Near(okay maybe just me) confused and annoyed. Near continued to twirl his hair with a bord, distant expression.

"I'm going to go look at that shelf over there." I announced pointing at a brown shelf with different figurines and snowglobs on it.

Near didn't say anything. He merely looked at me then looked back down at the floor. This frustrated me for some reason. That he said nothing and his expression remained stoic.

I went over to the shelf. I added another piece of gum to the piece I was already chewing. /Pop!/ I blew a bubble that burst moments later sending a wave of the sweet sent of cherries through the air.

I looked back to the place I left Near. He was gone. My eyes darted around the store to locate him. I spotted him standing at a shelf to my left. His gaze was fixated on a little mouse toy that had a feather tail that stuck up and swayed from side to side.

I watched as he followed the tail with his eyes. A small smile was playing on his face and his fluffy white tail swished back and forth playfully. I watched as his right hand slowly raised up, preparing to attack to toy. /Swoosh!/ He began to bat at the mouse's feather tail. Seeing him like this, being so cute, made me smile and laugh lightly. I studied him and how he attacked the toy. How everytime he missed his cat ears flattend a little in disappoinment.

"You know instead of starring at him like a creeper, you should go talk to him."

My black ears perked up in surprise and shock and my tail straightend completely. I jummped a few feet in the air and could feel a blush creep up my cheeks. "What do you mean by that?" I demanded as I turned toward Kirimi.

"Oh nothing." she answered with a giggle in a sing-song voice.

"What happened to finding a gift for your brother?" I growled still annoyed at how much entertainment she got out of freaking me out.  
"Oh, I uh... still haven't found anything."

"Why do you need to get him a present anyway? It's not his birthday or anything." "What can't I just get a gift for my brother without it being a special occasion?" I didn't miss her tone becoming more nervous.

"Well I-" I didn't get to finish because Kirimi ran away. I returned my attention to Near. He was still enchanted with the toy. I did what Kirimi said and approached him. "If you like it so much you should get it." I said.

He immeadiatly stopped, his cheeks taking on a light shade of pink. He bowed his head and began to twirl his hair probably hoping I would leave.

I blew another bubble that popped. "Um, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you."

His tail whippped back and forth nervously. He looked at me in the most adorable way, like a little lost helpless kitten. "Do you like me?"  
I was taken aback by his question. "W-what do you mean?"

He looked down again but the pink had faded from his cheeks and he once again wore his expressionless mask. "Nothing, it's not important. I will go find Kirimi so we can leave." he walked away.

_Nice going me. You made him leave. _That was really weird though. It's not like him to say something like that. I didn't even know he cared at all about what I thought.

The walk home was reletively quiet between the three of us. I utilized this time to ponder what just happened. Near, whom I've seldom spoken with, asked if I liked him. Why? Did Kirimi say something to him? Lord only knows what she could have told him. And what exactly did he mean? Did he mean as a friend or... Ha! No that's completely preposterous! Besides it's not like I- Holy tuna fish! What if he does... would it be so bad? Well one thing's for certain: Kirimi is definetly scheaming something in that devious thing known as her mind.

"So what did you two talk about?" Kirimi asked as she plopped down next to me on the couch.  
"We didn't really talk."

"Aw, really? He didn't ask you anything?"

"What? Why would you question if he asked me something?"

"Um..."

Busted! I knew she was up to something. What did she tell him? I know she likes to mess with peoples minds. What game is she playing...?

~2 days later~

Where is she? She tells me she wants to hang out at the park and doesn't show! What's up with that? I sat on a bench watching birds scamper around on the ground. I contemplated chasing after them, but decided it wasn't worth it. I can never catch the stupid things. They always fly away and at the last minute too! They taunt me; they let me get close to catching me but then take off right as I'm about to grab them. Still my eyes couldn't help but follow their every move.

"Woah!" Thanks to my expert reflexes I was able to catch what was thrown at me. If I hadn't been siting I would have fallen down. I looked up to see Kirimi flash me an all too familiar devious grin before she ran off. Did I miss something here? She threw a bag at me and left. Is that her idea of hanging out or something? I opend the bag and peered inside. Huh? Why is this...? My question and suspscions were answered when Near walked up. Everything just clicked together.

"Do you know where Kirimi is? She said she wanted to meet me here." he said in his usual monotone voice.

I could feel the heat rise in my cheeks. Damn Kirimi! That cunniving meddler! "Um... she had something she needed to do." _Yeah, set me up.  
_ "Oh, I see." Does that mean he knows what's going on? Of course he does, he's a genius.

Should I give him the present? What will he think? What do I want him to think? He'll probably be indifferent. Then again he might...no. I can't deal with this right now. Trying to ignore the situation on hand I focused on blowing a bubble. I prayed Near wouldn't adress our current predicament.

"Do you why Kirimi wanted to meet us here?"

What? He still doesn't know what Kirimi's doing? Great, it'll be fun explainning it to him. Maybe it's not as obvious to him as it is to me so he won't figure it out. I could not say anything and pretend like it's not real, but then she might meddle more. I opted to change the subject, sort of.

"This is for you." I said holding out the bag containing the mouse toy Near had been playing with at the store and casting my glance downward, ignoring my blush. I looked up at Near, his cheeks were dusted a light pink, his ears perked up, and an almost invisable smile on his face. His tail moved back and forth playfully. I guess he's happy he got the toy. I smiled; it was nice to see him content like this. Near's smile faded and his tail stilled when he saw me smiling at him which in turn made me stop. He looked down, the shade of pink on his face deepening.

"Thanks." he muttered still avoiding my eyes. I could take a pretty good geuss at what he was thinking right now and I had no idea what to do about it.

"You're welcome." I said to the empty space where Near was standing a moment ago. Where did he go? I looked to my left. Near was siting right next to me... and he was kind of close. My cheeks flared. Quickly I stood, tilting my head some so my hair would hide my enormous blush.

"I-I have to go." I said so fast I wasn't sure if he understood it. Not waiting to find out I raced off back to the orphanage. _Idoit!_ I thought to myself when I was almost there. Why did I run? Why the hell am I acting like this? He may not even think anything of it. At least not like that.

"What's wrong?" Kirimi asked when I burst threw the door. I had forgotten we shared a room, you know, because life hates me like that.

"It's all your fault!" I yelled into my pillow. It was true. If she hadn't stuck her nose in my(and Near's) business then I wouldn't have to think about my...thoughts.

"Did he not like the present?"

"No, he did."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I like him." My voice dropped to a murmmer. Maybe she wouldn't hear.

"I knew it!"

I face palmed. I am so stupid. Kirimi probably wwasn't sure at first and was going on a hunch but now she knew for sure. I just added more fuel to the fire.

"I still don't get what the problem is."

"I don't know what to do. That's the problem."

"Oh well that's easy, leave it to me!" she said getting up, the triumphet aura around her still present.

I pounced on her, stopping her from leave. "No! Don't say anything!"

"Well what do _you_ plan on doing, huh?"

"Nothing. I'm not going to say anything to him."

"So you're going to avoid him?"

"Precisely."

"You can't do that."

"Yes I can."

"No you can't."

"Why not?"

"I won't let you."

"You can't do that!"

"Yes I can."

"No you can't. It's none of your business."

"You can't avoid him forever."

"Watch me." I spent the next staying absolutly clear of Near. Anytime I saw him I immeadiatly went the other way. You think it would be easy to stay out of the sight of someone secluded like him but it was actually rather difficult. He kept popping up everwhere I went. I had a suspition that a certain someone had something to do with it too.

I did feel a little bad about it though. Everytime Near's eyes caught mine it looked like there was something he wanted to say but of course I left before he could. I wished the whole thing would just disappear. Worst of all I found myself blushing everytime I thought about Near. I think one of the main reasons I was avoiding him was that I didn't want to find out that he doesn't like me back. I don't even know if he knows why I'm avoiding him.

"Hey," a voice said behind me. _Darn it!_ "Kirimi told me something and I..."

Great she told him something and I can't even turn to face him because I'm positive that I'm a nice shade of red right now. "Um, sorry there's something I need to take care of." I lied before running somewhere, anywhere.

I was panting from how much I ran. I let out a long sigh. I really need to pull it together. Kirimi's right. Plan avoid-Near-for-the-rest-of-my-life is not working. I should hear him out. If I'm lucky it won't be as bad as I think, but he probably thinks I hate him or something since I keep ruuning away without giving him a real explaination. Suddenly I got a terrible feeling. I don't want him to hate me. Another sigh passed my lips. This is too troublesome.

Four more days passed and I still hadn't said more than a few words to Near. I tried to once but I started to stutter and felt stupid for not being cappable of talking correctly. It ended with me retreating again. Now I was hiding beneath my blanket.  
Kirimi came in. "Don't tell me you're still hiding."

"Not exactly." I said, lifting a small portion of the blanket so I could see her.

"Then you talked to him?"

"Not exactly. I tried but my words got all jumbled and I ended up saying something extreamly stupid."

"What did you say?" Her voice took on a slightly more serious tone.

I shook my head. "I can't say. It didn't even make sense."

"You need to say how you feel even if it doesn't come out quite right."

"I think I'll just stay here where it's nice and warm."

"Suit yourself." I heard the sound of sheets rustling as she plopped down on her own bed.

I sat there for an infinate amount of time trying to figure out exactly what to say. Everything sounded super mushy and I detest mushy stuff. When I finally got up it was night. I decided to go out on the roof. Perhaps stargazing would help clear my head.

I had almost driffted off to sleep beneath the blanket of stars above when I heard almost silent footsteps come up behind me. I opend my eyes as none other than Near himself sat down beside me. I was glad it was dark and he couldn't see my face heat up. My tail twitched nervously as I waited for him to say something. There was no way I was going to risk opening my mouth.

He turned to face me, making direct eye contact. Unfortunately it wasn't dark enough to be unable to see each other's faces at this short of a distance. "I like you." he said emotion, mostly nervousness, mixed in his voice for once. I was almost certain he was blushing as he said it.  
"What?" I asked dumbly. I was blushing so much that I feared he could feel the heat radiating from my cheeks.

Instead of answering me with words he kissed me. It was nothing serious, but it made my heart race. It was an innocent kiss, soft, and sweet.

"I uh..."

I chuckled at Near's loss for words, not that he talked much to begin with though, it was cute. I leaned into him, resting my head on his chest. At first I wasn't sure if he was okay with it because he didn't move. He was perfectly still in an akward way, but after a few seconds he relaxed putting his arms around me and even began to pur. I was in pure bliss. I never wanted to move. It didn't take long for me to be lulled to sleep by his breathing.

"So this is where you snuck off to last night." I jumped awake at Kirimi's words. I could hear the smirk in her voice. I glanced at Near who I had jumped a good foot away from. He was blushing as madly as me.

**A/N: So there** **is. I hope ya'll liked it. I'm actually really proud of it also completeing it got me excited(even though it's just a one-shot) and got me writing more of some other things of mine which I plan to put out eventually.**


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